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  • ESAC Releases First Ever National Survey Report on Canadian Entertainment Software Industry

25th March 2009

ESAC Releases First Ever National Survey Report on Canadian Entertainment Software Industry

esacToronto – The entertainment software industry is a growing and vital contributor to the Canadian knowledge economy, according to a new report released today by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC). Canada’s Entertainment Software Industry: The Opportunities and Challenges of a Growing Industry, conducted by respected Ottawa consulting firm Hickling Arthurs Low, and commissioned by ESAC, is the first ever national survey report of the Canadian entertainment software industry, involving original research, surveys and interviews of industry leaders.

“Canada’s entertainment software industry is one of the most promising knowledge-based industries in the country,” said Danielle LaBossiere Parr, Executive Director of ESAC. “This report reveals just how prosperous entertainment software is to the Canadian economy: an estimated $1.7 billion in direct economic activity, 14,000 jobs, and a further $2.2 billion in retail sales figures highlight a strong industry in spite of the economic downturn.”
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25th March 2009

Robert McKee’s Story Seminar Returns to Vancouver

Robert McKeeVancouver Press Release – For over 15 years, Robert McKee’s Story Seminar has been the world’s ultimate writing class for over 50,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, journalists, industry executives, actors, advertising executives, producers, directors and playwrights.

Former STORY students have written: A Beautiful Mind; Lord of the Rings I, II, III; Ironman; Law & Order; CSI; The Daily Show; Friends; Frasier; Seinfeld; The DaVinci Code; Shrek; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest; X-Men 3; Finding Nemo and many more.

And former STORY students have won: 27 Academy Awards (98 nominations); 141 Emmy Awards (476 nominations); 20 WGA Awards (72 nominations); 17 DGA Awards (45 nominations) and a Pulitzer Prize for Writing.

Robert McKee’s famous STORY seminar returns to Vancouver in June — don’t miss this opportunity to become a former STORY student yourself.

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25th March 2009

BCIC Sponsors Upcoming Competitions and Seminars

BCICVancouver – The BC Innovation Council is pleased to be a title sponsor for the 2009 New Ventures BC Competition and the Impact Microcredit Competition which are both open to all British Columbians:

* 2009 New Ventures BC Competition BCIC will be providing a total of $180,000 towards the Proof of Concept Awards towards the competition prizes. BCIC’s Proof of Concept Development Prize provides funding to New Ventures BC winners, to demonstrate the commercial potential of a new technology product, process or service. The funding supports advancement of the technology along the commercialization continuum in order to attract investors, commercial partners, and future customers.

The competition is open to everyone in British Columbia and entries will be accepted from a person, team or business. NVBC welcomes technology business ideas from all sectors. Registration for the competition will open shortly. Deadline to enter is midnight, April 20, 2009.

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25th March 2009

Audiokinetic announces SoundSeed Air

New SoundSeed module will generate wind and “swoosh” sounds

audiokineticMontreal/San Francisco GDC – Today at the Game Developers Conference, Audiokinetic Inc., the leading audio solution provider for the video game industry, unveiled SoundSeed Air, the new module of the SoundSeed product family.

SoundSeed is a family of interactive sound generators for game audio. It uses innovative digital sound processing (DSP) technology to create varied, hence highly immersive, audio environments, while keeping runtime memory usage and recording costs at a minimum.

SoundSeed Air is the latest addition to the SoundSeed family. This new module involves two source plug-ins. The first one is called “Wind” and generates dynamic and never-repeating ambiances while the second one, “Swoosh” produces short air displacement effects such as sword slashing or dragon wings flaps.

As SoundSeed Air is a pure parametric synthesis technology it does not require wave files and it has the potential to produce hours of none-repeating ambiances using virtually no runtime memory.

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25th March 2009

Canon Canada Launches 2009 Nurture Nature Awards

Submissions for environmental awards open on Earth Hour March 28, 2009

canonMississaugaCanon Canada is pleased to announce the launch of the 2009 Canon Canada Nurture Nature Awards. The Nurture Nature Awards is an environmental program that encourages Canadians to help protect or improve the natural habitat of an endangered or threatened species in their community. Beginning Earth Hour on March 28, 2009, individuals can submit a proposal consisting of a short video and a brief written plan on how they intend to positively impact a threatened habitat in their area. Proposals can be uploaded at www.canon.ca/donations_sponsorships until 5 p.m. EDT on September 1, 2009.

Three winners from across Canada will be announced on September 14, 2009. Each winner will receive a cash award of $20,000 to fund their project. Winners will also receive a Canon digital SLR camera and a Canon video camera so they can document their progress and the final results of their project.

“At Canon, our responsibility to the environment is part of everything we do. The 2009 Nurture Nature Awards is an opportunity for us to extend this commitment and recognize and support Canadians who want to make a difference in their own communities,” said Stanley Skorayko, VP of Corporate Communications and General and Environmental Affairs, Canon Canada. “Whether it is cleaning up a polluted pond, or re-claiming a woodland, Canon Canada invites individuals across the country to submit their plans to make a positive impact on the environment.”

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25th March 2009

CoolIT Systems Closes $6.2 Million Financing

Capital Plan Supports Mainstream Performance-Computing Adoption of Liquid Cooling

CoolITCalgaryCoolIT Systems, the industry leader in advanced electronics cooling solutions, has completed a CDN $6.2M financing package. The investment was led by iNovia Capital, a leading venture capital fund manager, and included existing angel investors and AVAC Ltd.

CoolIT recently launched its breakthrough Domino Advanced Liquid Cooling (ALC) solution for desktop computers to industry acclaim at the Consumer Electronics Show (Las Vegas) and CeBIT iNOVIA(Hanover). CyberPowerPC will be utilizing the Domino ALC in its Gamer Xtreme product line. This financing was timed to support that launch and accelerate the completion of a number of development projects for OEMs based on patented CoolIT technology.

“Electronics performance is now governed by thermal design more than any other factor. Customers are demanding quiet, reliable and efficient equipment that can only be delivered with advanced cooling solutions of the caliber provided by CoolIT,” said Shawn Abbott, partner with iNovia Capital. “In addition to technology excellence, CoolIT has a world-class management team with the proven ability to lead high-volume, quality technology design and manufacturing organizations.”

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24th March 2009

Save the Planet as Only a Monster Can in Activision’s Monsters vs. Alien Video Game

Beenox StudiosQuebec City – When aliens attack, monsters fight back in Activision Publishing, Inc.’s Monsters vs. Aliens™, the video game based on the highly anticipated 3D feature film from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., which will debut on March 27.  Monsters vs. Aliens was developed for the console and PC platforms by Beenox, Inc. and for Nintendo DS by Amaze Entertainment.  Starting today, gamers can experience heart pounding action and silly antics as they lead a dynamic team of misfit monsters on a mission to protect earth from destruction.Activision

“Monsters vs. Aliens allows players to control the characters from the film and use their unique abilities to battle alien enemies throughout the game,” said Rob Kostich, head of marketing for licensed properties, Activision Publishing, Inc. “Players invite a friend to grab a Wii Remote™ or controller and join forces at any time to help clear enemies, collect monster DNA and overcome obstacles as their favorite monster heroes.”

Monsters vs AliensThe Monsters vs. Aliens video game calls players into action to battle against Gallaxhar and his alien robot army. Taking on the roles of The Missing Link, the macho half-ape, half-fish; the gelatinous, indestructible and always hungry B.O.B.; and Ginormica, the 49-foot-11-inch tall woman, gamers team up with the helpful genius Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. and Insectosaurus, the 350-foot tall grub to defeat the alien invaders. Players master the unique and diverse abilities of each character as they ooze, brawl, skate, puzzle solve, climb, crawl, jump and race through more than 20 levels on Earth and through outer space.

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24th March 2009

6S Marketing Releases Social Media Survey Results

6s MarketingVancouver6S Marketing created the Canadian Social Media Survey to determine how businesses in Canada are using social media marketing for building online communities around their product offerings, and how they are using social media to increase brand authority and visibility online. The survey produced surprising stats on the use of SociaSurvey Resultsl Media by companies in Canada, as well as individuals.

Participants were asked about their involvement with various social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as their age group. Not surprisingly, younger people seemed more likely to use Twitter, but the most-used social media site overall is Facebook at 69% followed by Twitter at 47% and LinkedIn at 30%.

Canadians also seem to be very active bloggers, with 74% maintaining a personal blog, 57% running a business blog, and 35% maintaining both a personal and business blog. At 63%, WordPress is the number one blogging platform of choice, followed by Blogger in a distant second with 34%.

It seems that those seeking careers and those doing the hiring still prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. Only 22% of respondents had been hired through an online application, while only 9% of those who do the hiring had found employees online. Businesses are, however, concerned about what their corporate reputation is, with 61% of corporate respondents monitoring online chatter about them. What I did find interesting in regards to business blogs is the breakdown of which department is responsible for blog postings. Marketing departments were responsible for 28% of the corporate blogs, while Management made up for 18%, Other Staff came in at 13%, IT Departments at 4%, and No Work Related Accounts came in the winner at 37%.

You can see the full survey results at 6S Marketing’s web site.

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24th March 2009

Absolute Launches New Global Customer Center With Enhanced Security and Management Features

Absolute SoftwareVancouverAbsolute® Software Corporation, the leading provider of firmware-based, patented, computer theft recovery, data protection and secure IT asset management solutions announced today that to better support its global expansion, Computrace® customers can now access enhanced security, management and usability features in the Absolute Customer Center.

Absolute Customer Center is a powerful console that enables customers to secure and manage their computer population, particularly those hard to manage mobile devices such as laptops and handhelds. Through Customer Center Absolute customers can access Absolute’s full range of IT asset management, data protection and theft recovery services. For example, by logging in to the secure console, a corporate IT administrator could view the location and configuration of all Computrace-protected laptops, desktops, tablets, and BlackBerry® and Windows Mobile® devices in their organization via an applicable Absolute service. Absolute’s Customer Center can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser.
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24th March 2009

Bob & Doug Take Off On Global

Iconic Canadian Duo Return in an All-New Animated Global Original Series

GlobalToronto – Canada’s favourite pair of ‘hosers’, the McKenzie brothers, return to primetime on Global in an all-new half-hour animated comedy series, Bob & Doug. Premiering Sunday, April 19th – 7:30pm ET/PT, the 22-episode Original Series, starring SCTV alum Dave Thomas (“Grace Under Fire”) and comedian Dave Coulier (“Full House”), will join Global’s highly successful Sunday night line-up alongside such animated favourites as “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons”.Bob & Doug

“Bob & Doug builds on the hilarity of the Canadian cult classic while offering viewers a fresh animated look at these beloved characters,” said Christine Shipton, SVP, Drama and Factual Content, Canwest Broadcasting. “It is an outstanding addition to our strong and unique original slate.”

Driven with character stereotypes reminiscent of the celebrated film “Great White North”, the series is centered around the fictional Canadian town of Maple Lake, Bob and Doug’s lives as garbage men and their gang of friends who often gather at the ‘Skate ‘n Bowl’.

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